FAM regulating academiest
The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has started registering and regulating football academies in the country.
FAM Technical director Benjamin Kumwenda said the move is aimed at coming up with a proper player development structure that gives equal opportunities to players to improve their skills.
He said; “These opportunities will be provided and developed within an academy structure and will place the welfare of the player as paramount.
“To ensure this, all football-registered academies will be expected to operate within the FAM regulations.”
“We are now calling upon all academies to register with our regional offices so that we should know how many academies we have in the country. “
Kumwenda said after the process, the academies will be invited in their respective regions for a session on the FAM academy licensing guidelines.
“After that they will apply for a license and we will offer them a certificate,” he said. Kumwenda.
In the South, the contact person is Patrick Kulemeka, William Nkunika in the Centre and Robert Mzinza in the North.
The academy registration closes on March 22 2024.
Meanwhile, FAM President Fleetwood Haiya on Wednesday paid a courtesy call to Lilongwe-based Ascent Academy to appreciate its programmes.
Ascent Academy is currently the only full-time football academy in the country which also has a scholarship programmes.
He said Ascent Academy, which has facilitated the move of a number of players abroad, will be key to the Transforming the game’s player export strategy.
Said Haiya: “As a country we don’t have big-name stars in Europe, America, and the Middle East . This is due to the unvaibality of a systematic plan to export our best talents for development in the world’s best leagues.
“One way of realising that is to nurture and export talent via scholarships through academies and high schools. Ascent is doing that and we need to work with them so that we increase the number of players abroad and this is why I am here to appreciate such efforts.”—Fam Media
